1) Because the prophet began in the last part of his prophecy to speak of the kingdom of Christ, which was begun and confirmed by the calling of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews, just as Paul speaks of the olive tree in Romans 11:24, he stays with these two pieces almost alone, so that he both calls the Gentiles to the church and comforts, admonishes and stimulates the others from the Jews.
(2) Further, there are two lawful ways in which the law separates husband and wife. The first, that the wife was given a bill of divorcement; the other, that she was sold. Now because the synagogue has separated from the church, he accuses her as a harlot who has departed from her husband without any cause. I have not given thee a bill of divorcement, saith he, I have not sold thee; but thy iniquity and thy wickedness is the cause of this divorce.
V. 1. Behold, you are sold for your sin.
This is the cause of rejection. Just as today nothing is left undone by us, so that we may bring both the papists and the sectarians back on the right path. We do not exclude them from the Church, but they exclude themselves.
V. 2. Why did I come and was no one there?
4. He proves that their wickedness was the cause. I have come into the flesh, he says; I have died for you, I have risen; I have fulfilled all the promises as one present and truly given, but you have not received me. As it is said in John 1:11, "He came into his own, but his own received him not."
Has my hand now become so short? 2c.
(5) He boasts of his power against the Jews, and reproaches them. As if to say, "You hold me in low esteem because I come without any splendor. You look to a fleshly kingdom, and despise this weakness. But this is my way. I have never redeemed you through power, but always through weakness, in which is the highest strength and power; and then I use to be most powerful, when one thinks that I am not able to do anything at all. For this is what God does: as often as he wants to deal with us, he uses those figures which the world considers the most foolish and weakest. Thus he commands to sprinkle water on his own in holy baptism, so that sins may be washed away. What could be more incongruous than to be doused with water in order to overcome death and hell, to which the miserable breath of the Holy Spirit is added?
of a sinner who performs baptism? So it is with all the other works of God, that He may make our wisdom foolishness, that we be not presumptuous:
Behold, with my rebuke I make the sea dry.
(6) I, the weak God, have dried up the Red Sea with a word that is considered the weakest of all [Exodus 14:21], so that I might redeem you; therefore, do not be offended by the lowly form. Although this is historical, it can be explained according to the secret interpretation that he pushes the mighty ones from the chair [Luc. 1, 52].
7 Furthermore, the prophets often repeat this example of the Red Sea, because it contains an excellent picture of divine help. For what could have been conceived that was weaker than to deliver a people through the sea, in which they would certainly drown and die, as the Egyptians experienced. Therefore, this water was not a water of life, but rather a water of death; and yet God works the opposite through this water, making it quite powerless to harm and very powerful to save. This was the power of the word. Thus, everything that is outstanding among the works of God was done in very special weakness. But God does this to put our wisdom to shame, so that we will not be presumptuous about anything.
V. 3. I clothe the heavens with darkness.
8. I, the weak God, covered the sky with clouds on Mount Sinai so that no star could be seen [Ex. 19:16].
V. 4. The Lord has given me a learned tongue, that I may know how to speak in season to the weary.
(9) If the weak form offends thee, open thine ears, and hear the word which the Lord hath given me. Thus he refers them from the outward appearance, by which weakness is seen, to the word, so that those who are offended by the outward appearance may be edified by the word. There is an after
The word "discipled" is used in the same way as in Latin: linguam discipulatam, a tongue made a disciple, which speaks nothing but what it has learned from God. It is not a tongue of a master, but of a disciple.
He wakes me up every morning (mans).
(10) Here he shows the usefulness and power of the word, that it is never without fruit, but bears fruit both in him who teaches it and in him who learns it. This passage is to be remembered for the external word, which the unholy and rebellious spirits despise today.
(11) "Early" (mane) means at an occasional time; not when we will, but when he wills, and by whom he wills.
He wakens my ear, that I may hear as a disciple.
(12) Instead of quasi magistrum, it should be translated, "That I may hear as a disciple. When the Lord gives the word, he also gives disciples. Our red spirits, although they hear, read and say many things, say, read and hear everything as masters, in order to distinguish themselves and to judge us, yes, also in order to judge the word of God, and not in order to learn it.
V. 5. And I am not disobedient.
13 He shows here by his example the fruit of the word. For the word makes me patiently endure everything that comes my way; I do not flee from the cross, but, comforted by the word, I do not refuse to endure even death.
V. 6. I kept my back to those who struck me.
14 This is to be understood of the suffering of Christ. For he praises and extols to us the power of the word. Thus the church would rather suffer death ten times over than deny the word of God either with works or with the mouth. Such great power is in the word of God, which seems weak and foolish to those who perish and want to be masters. But to us, who are disciples, it is the highest power.
15) Furthermore, as Christ here 1) says of Himself that He is, so is the church today and at all times, namely subject to the thugs and brawlers.
V. 7. for the Lord helps me.
This is the power of the Word by which Christ is upheld. Furthermore, if one looks at the outward appearance, the contradiction is before one's eyes, and one thinks that Christ with the church is pressed by God and Satan at the same time, and that there is no help anywhere.
That is why I have presented my face as a pebble.
The face is in itself the softest and most delicate part of the body. It must be as hard as a pebble in Christ and in the church to endure the blows. Therefore, Christians should not despair in adversity, but know that they must present their faces as rocks, and hope that they will retain victory through the Spirit and the Word. This is an excellent strengthening and comfort for those who suffer for the sake of the Word.
V. 8. 9. Who is he that will condemn me?
Here the stone face rises against the enemies with great joy, which we also must have. Today we are accused in many ways, we are condemned as heretics and rebels. Some cry out that we are reintroducing the papacy, others weigh us down with other calumnies; in sum, all that they sin, they burden us with. Therefore we take refuge in the word, and say here with Christ, "Who is he that would condemn us?" For we know that all these accusations are falsely laid upon us by the adversaries. Just as David also mocks his enemies before the Lord, "Have I done these things, and is wrong in my hands" 2c. Ps. 7, 4.
Behold, they will all at once grow old like a garment.
1) Erlanger: they instead: Lio.
(19) This is a good comfort against the enemies of Christ and the church. But just as the help of the godly is not visible before the world, but rather seems to be pressed down, so also the corruption of the wicked cannot be seen, but they flourish; and they themselves grate and devour others, and are not grated nor devoured by others. Therefore, faith is necessary here, in which we expect that this will happen one day. For the Holy Spirit will not lie. And it seems as if the prophet used this simile to indicate that the wicked do not perish immediately, but that God gives time for repentance. If they neglected to do so, the tyrants would perish, but the word of the Lord would remain forever.
V. 10. Who is there among you who fears the Lord?
20. Christ is presented to us in two ways: first as a gift, then as an example. Now here he communicates his person to all as an example. If anyone," he says, "fears the Lord and delights in words, he will be overwhelmed with many tribulations; he will walk in darkness, that is, he will be afraid and distressed in the world. Therefore, if he follows my example and hopes in the name of the Lord, he will surely know that just as I have been saved and glorified, but my enemies have perished, so he also will be saved and his enemies will perish.
He hopes in the name of the Lord and relies on his God.
This is the only way to salvation, the only refuge in misfortune, to "hope," not in human counsel and help, but "in the name," not of man, but of God. But it is annoying to have nothing to rely on but the mere name of the Lord and the Word, which is as it were a strong lock to which the righteous takes refuge, lest he perish in the evil time [Proverbs 18:10].
V. 11. Behold, all of you who light a fire.
22. the fire which ye have kindled, and the flames which ye have sought to gather upon me, will I turn upon you, as it is said in the 7th Psalm, v. 16, 17: "he is fallen into the pit which he hath made." Likewise, "His calamity shall come upon his head." Likewise in the 37th Psalm, v. 15, "Their sword shall enter into their heart." So also the law says, "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you" [Matt. 7:2.]. This is how it was with the Jews; they killed Christ so that the Romans would not come and take their land and people [John 11:48]. But because they killed Christ, they themselves are killed and perish. But Christ rises again in glory and reigns.
Walk in the light of your fire.
23. "Fire" means persecution. So now he says: You are armed with all kinds of persecutions, but your fire shall consume you. This is how God understands this art, his enemies and persecutors he makes with their own
drunk with the blood [Is. 49, 26]. And as the one says:
. . . Nec lex est aequior ulla, Quam necis artifices arte perire sua.
[There is no cheaper law than that those who put people to death by their art perish by their own art.] Here, God promises that He will do the same. Therefore, the godly should comfort themselves with such scriptures, so that while they see nothing but their ruin and tribulation, they believe that their enemies will perish rather than they 2c.
You must lie in pain.
You Jews, who have been armed with fire and sword against my church, will have to suffer what you have intended others to suffer, and will be nothing but a miserable, oppressed yeast of the people. You will not stand or sit, but lie down, so that you will never rise again, without kingdom and without priesthood. This will happen to you by my hand, who despise and reject me as a weak God.